Articles by Lil Copan

The work of octogenarian artist Abner Hershberger reveals the religious sensibilities and Midwest landscapes of his youth. Viewers notice the intentional interplay of abstraction and representation. Even the unfamiliar is made familiar: furrows, land, sky, fallow ground, lines, circles that radiate. “In memory [these landscapes] seem poetic and are a constant source for visual expression,” he writes. “Abstracted, their imprint seems even bolder, somewhat the way it feels when working the land. It beckons as though it were a spiritual ritual.”

During Advent and Christmas, Christians hear stories of prophets, shepherds, night skies, angel announcements, a star, traveling Magi, and wanderers. An exploration of past and future, of expected and curious symbols, and of mystery—these also are central in the work of Jim Larson. A traditional woodworker and liturgical artist at House of Mercy, a church in St. Paul, Minnesota, Larson merges Western art, biblical and historical narratives, and traditional and nontraditional symbolism. This oil-on-canvas diptych, Joseph and Mary: Wedding Portrait (working title), is part of a series based on Jean-François Millet’s and Vincent van Gogh’s The Sower, where the sower is transformed into Mary with the Christ-child, and the Passion is attested to by raven, goldfinch, and skull. “The narratives might remain elusive,” Larson writes. “But that’s OK; the stories they grow out of are pretty strange to begin with.”

The exhibit Amen: A Prayer for the World began in Cairo with the works of 30 Egyptian artists. By the time it traveled to St. John the Divine in New York, the collection represented 48 artists from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian traditions. The impetus for the exhibit came from CARAVAN, an organization that supports intercultural and interreligious dialogue. Each artist was given a life-size human form of fiberglass in a pose of prayer and encouraged to paint it. The result, says CARAVAN founder Paul-Gordon Chandler, is an “aspirational expression of hope and goodwill coming ‘out of Egypt’ for the peoples of the Middle East and the rest of the world.”

Downtown Presbyterian Church, known for its artists-in-residence program and studio spaces (see Carol Howard Merritt’s “Revived by the arts”), is now bringing in the local urban community. With a gallery space that incorporates older architectural features and a contemporary look (complete with high-end track lighting), the church is part of Nashville’s growing gallery scene, with increasing foot traffic from the city’s monthly First Saturday Art Crawl. Artist-in-residence Cary Gibson has been key in developing the space and curating shows. One of her works, Triptych, includes images from a Cairo protest photo that went viral during the Arab Spring uprisings. The triptych incorporates several quotes (partially obscured), including one by Henri Nouwen: “You are Christian only so long as you constantly pose critical questions to the society you live in . . . so long as you stay unsatisfied with the status quo and keep saying that a new world is yet to come.” Downtown Presbyterian is committed to posing these critical questions, with its church doors flung open in invitation.